Rudy Carpenter's Post-Practice Quotes

DevilsDigest.com

04/03/2007

ASU's quarterback addressed his 2006 hand injuries and other topics after Tuesday's practice.

General comments on his hand injuries

"During the season my hands were broken. A couple of times actually. To be honest it never really affected me. The only game it really affected me was the Colorado game, because I did it (broke the right throwing hand that week of the game) in practice. It was cold outside…every other game it was fine. It affected me a little bit in the Washington State game because I re-injured it. I went into the locker room early in the half…it hurt, but not enough (to affect play)."

on the effect that the injury to the left (non-throwing) hand during the Cal game had on him

"If you watch a couple of the games, I couldn't hand off with my left hand, I had to hand it off with both hands. But it never really affected me. It hurt against Cal and for the next couple of weeks."

on whether he surprised himself playing with that level of pain

"I never really thought about it until it was brought up. To be honest, that's what you're supposed to do I guess – quarterbacks are suppose to play with pain. When you're caught in a game and your heart is pumping, you never noticed things like that. I broke my collar bone against Rutgers and I really didn't feel it – I was just playing."

"I'm happy to have him back. The thing about him as I said, he's gonna help our team out so much. Not so much because he's faster or even better, but because he has more experience. He knows how to get open, catch ball in traffic…he knows how to do the little things. That's all because playing in a lot of games and that's an experience that really helps out your team. We're gonna benefit from him being on the field."

on Burgess' place on the depth chart with the other wide receivers emerging

"I think he understands those guys are playing well. I don't think it really shakes his confidence, because he played in a lot of games. I don't think you can really keep him off the field. He's gonna work himself back up."

on whether he will get more credit from his critics for what he did last season playing with broken hands

"I don't think they should. I didn't think it was that bad. I had worse injuries, played through a lot more. Last year I don't think the injuries had to do with the way I played."

his feelings about the team's running game

"We have a lot of depth in the running back position. It's only gonna help out. I think Jarrell Woods will only help us out. He's gonna be another real viable option for us. He's big, he's really fast…he might be the fastest out of all of them (ASU RB's). With Keegan, Dimitri, and Ryan they all do different things. Ryan – you're gonna give him the ball a lot because he's kind of a bruiser back. Keegan is a slasher and will make people miss. Dimitri is another bruiser back and is a real good inside zone runner. Dimitri can catch the ball great out of the backfield and he's gonna be a huge part in the offense. We're gonna have empty sets and use the running backs in a lot of routes."

on how well the running backs are pass protecting

"We've done it a little bit – show the backs in pass protection. That's only because the offense and the schemes are new. I'm still learning all the protections. Last year the backs did fine in pass protection. I'm not really worried about. Once they get the scheme I think they'll be pretty good at that."